Kind of agree with both points. It did very much picked up a lot towards the middle-to-end (once it got to Tobias' first episode), but those first handful of episodes were pretty rough to take in, at first viewing.

I'm rewatching the 4th season right now. I was an avid hater of the season from the outset (especially the new Michael) but I'm enjoying pieces of it now that I'm seeing it again. So at least they managed to keep one of the huge charms of the show - they pack so much subtle comedy into it that the first 3 viewings feel like debuts.

I've been watching the season 4 remix and while the narrative flows more directly, it feels like they tried to cut, paste, and jam shit in. Not terribly keen on it, but still like it better than the original release.

I liked the recut better, but I got annoyed at the repeated voiceovers. It was kind of weird to keep telling, for instance, the backstory of Lucille and George faking their divorce. I feel like Ron Howard explained it to me like 8 times.

Also, was confused as to why there were so many audio overdubs, it was kind of weird